The pretense of “democracy”

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We would have thought that it hardly needs saying, but Thailand is is a strange political space, so maybe it dies: the military dictatorship is “is pretending to use democratic principles to prolong its authoritarian rule…”.

Prajak Kongkirati, a political scientist at Thammasat University, is correct when he states that the military junta is using “democratic processes and institutions for no other goal than to extend and consolidate its power.” He’s probably referring to things like a referendum and a puppet parliament.

The military dictatorship is a throwback both for Thailand and in global terms.

The so-called checks and balances in the draft charter “are intended to weaken elected parties in the future.” It’s path through the “referendum” led to an “illusion of a free and fair process.”

In fact, nothing this military dictatorship does is free or fair. When the anti-democrats complained and campaigned against “electoral majoritarianism,” they paved the way for a regime that is nasty, petulant, illegal, authoritarian and “minoritarian.”